


Secrets Yearned

by Pfain Ryder (Cat_Moon)



Category: Quantum Leap
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-09 14:29:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19889371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cat_Moon/pseuds/Pfain%20Ryder
Summary: When Sam needs answers, he consults a psychic, but the questions he asks aren't the ones he really wants to know.





	Secrets Yearned

**Author's Note:**

> Published in "Wham Bam, Thank You Sam #6." 2004.  
> Beginning looks like a prompt of some sort, but I don't remember where it was from (unless it was a real ad I actually saw).

_REVEALS LOVER'S FUTURE! Guaranteed!_

_Iola reunites lovers, fulfills desires,_

_Removes negativity. Solves all problems._

_Complimentary question._

It was the sign that did it. Something about the sign.

Sam stood uncertainly in the doorway, wiping sweaty hands on his--or his host's--pants. He glanced up the street nervously, forced a chuckle. It wasn't like anyone was going to recognize him. Still, he felt ridiculous...silly, he felt downright silly.

 _Either get it over with, or forget the whole stupid thing,_ he told himself firmly.

Resolutely, Sam pushed open the door. A bell chimed almost delicately as he stepped inside the foyer. There was a plush, red velvet couch in the corner, and a painting done in cool greens of a forest hung on the wall. The faint sound of music wafted in from somewhere, along with a musky incense.

He was about to turn and walk back outside, when a deep voice spoke. "You've come to see me." It wasn't a question, but then, why else would he be standing there?

She wore a simple white blouse, with a multi-colored billowing skirt and a matching scarf draped artfully around her shoulders. She wasn't pretty by a conventional sense, but she had piercing eyes that seemed almost black in the subdued lighting. It was always the eyes, he remembered.

"Are you Desiree?" he inquired politely.

She nodded once, beckoning him into the back room.

Sam followed, took the chair that Desiree gestured to, as she sat down to face him across the table. She seemed to watch him, without watching him, during a silence which was anything but relaxing. As if she was waiting. But for what?

"I don't know why I'm here," Sam admitted. Indeed, he'd always been the skeptic, the unbeliever. Yet, they'd always been able to see...something in him. The sensitive ones. It had always spooked him. Now, he needed to know more. To delve into those secrets so jealously... _I mean zealously_ guarded.

"You're searching for something," Desiree said, as calmly as if she was commenting on the weather.

"I...think it might rain," he returned, faltering.

Desiree cocked her head to one side, regarding him silently. Her eyes made him uncomfortable.

_What does she see?_

A quizzical expression crossed her features. "You don't know what it is you search...no, _yearn_ for."

"I should be going." He made no move to leave. Although he wanted desperately to flee, his legs would not obey. Whisper memory, floating through his consciousness... _'Like it's horrible, but you're too fascinated to look away...'_

Desiree met his eyes, almost against his will. "You think you know what it is you ask of me, but you're wrong. Because you're afraid of the answer."

"I'm not afraid of anything," Sam said, whistling against the dark.

She gave him an odd look, one he couldn't place. "It's a strange thing to be afraid of--"

"You don't know me," Sam blurted, before she could say the word. Whatever she'd been about to say.

Desiree smiled disconcertingly. "I know you are not who you appear to be. But it's _you_ who don't know yourself."

Abruptly, he was angry. How dare she presume to know his secrets. To know him better than he did. Only one person had that power... "I know who I am."

Desiree shook her head, long black hair catching the candlelight as it swayed. "You need to know. But you're afraid.”

"I don't know why I came," he repeated, uselessly.

"Does he know?" she asked in a whispering voice.

Sam's head snapped up sharply. "What?" he hissed.

Unperturbed by his brusque response, she replied calmly. "Who you are."

"I..." he searched her face intently. "I need...can you help me?"

"You need the answer."

Sam nodded, mute. Was he waiting to be condemned, or saved?

Desiree took his hand in her cool, soft one. "Are you strong enough to hear the word?"

Sam nodded again, swallowing.

"Love," she proclaimed, as if imparting the secret of the universe, letting go of his hand and leaning back in her chair.

"I want to know my future," Sam said, more strongly.

The smile was back, in her eyes, too. They looked blue now. "It's there."

"What are you talking about? Where?"

"The answer you seek is right in front of you, if you want to see it."

Was this what it came down to? A trite, cliche' answer? "I don't understand..." Sam happened to glance up then...to see Al standing there. Right in front of him.

And knew the answer.

**the end**

3/14/93


End file.
